KIEV (AFP) - Extremists blew up a controversial monument to Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin on New Year's night in southeastern Ukraine in an "act of terror", the local Communist Party said on Saturday.

The bust in the city of Zaporizhia, unveiled this May, caused a heated controversy in Ukraine which is still split between its nationalist west and the more Russian orientated east which fondly remembers the Soviet past.

"A criminal broke into the grounds of the Communist Party regional headquarters, and laid an explosive charge which detonated after a few minutes," the Communist Party said.

"The statue of Stalin was destroyed as a result of the blast," the Communists said in a statement. It said that the explosion inflicted serious damage on the building but there were no casualties.

The explosion took place at 10:40 pm (2040 GMT) on New Year's Eve, it said.

"By a pure chance there were no casualties. Most probably the explosive was filled with the metal items," lawmaker Oleksiy Baburin, head of the Zaporizhia Communists told a press conference.

"This is not a hooliganism but a terrorist attack," he added as quoted by Communist party press service.

The local police said in a statement that according to its information a group of several people passed the monument just a few minutes before the explosion.

Considering that Stalin was a monster who deliberately starved the Ukrainians so that they were forced into cannibalism on some of the most fertile land on Earth, I’d say blowing up his statue is the least they should expect.

"Stalin is a hate figure for many in Ukraine who blame him for intentionally allowing the deaths of millions of Ukrainians in a 1930s famine known as the Holodomor that nationalists regard as a genocide. "

I see the communist filth still call those who stand up against them “hooligans”. The Soviets used that word to demean those who spoke out against them, who they would torture, imprison, put in insane asylums or gulags.

The Russian word for “hooliganism”, “khuliganstvo”, is almost a straight borrowing of the English word. According to Soviet law, the first part of the hooliganism definition is “a violation of the rules of socialist community life or of public interests.”

The second part of the definition is “violations of socialist morality or of the interests of collectives or individuals.”

The two forms of hooliganism were petty hooliganism, used almost exclusively for public drunkenness, and malicious hooliganism, which was used for political offenses, and could result in imprisonment for from 1-5 years.

It was up to the prosecutor where that time would be spent. In some cases, it could be a death penalty, such as a gulag where prisoners had to mine uranium ore by hand, or a maximum security prison full of violent criminals.

Hitler banned guns as well. They went to gun records as soon as they invaded a country. Many Jews assisted the Nazis in rounding up other Jews - like the majority of Jews who voted for the Kenyan muslim.

33
posted on 01/01/2011 8:45:17 PM PST
by Frantzie
(Slaves do not have freedom only the illusion of freedom & their cable TV to drool at)

I agree; I’m surprised that Ukraine hasn’t outlawed homage to him (as Germany did to Hitler & Italy did to Mussolini). I don’t think anyone would question why they would “ban” him (unless they were Americans from whom his atrocities were deliberately concealed by our own government decades ago so Americans would fight as allies of “Uncle Joe”).

Been many cases of weapon banishment over the centuries, Turks, then they murdered Armenians. The list is fairly extensive. If there is anything to learn it’s that the only thing that stands between oppression by a tyranny and freedom are the people bearing arms.

My wife’s family are Czech. Her parents escaped one step ahead of the secret police in ‘48. Some of their close siblings were done to death in the uranium mines there.

When I hear blather from the likes of Obama comparing communism to “sharing toys on the schoolyard” my blood boils. No greater evil ever stalked this planet, and I include the Nazis because they didn’t kill as many, they were defeated, and nobody makes a career out of apologizing for them anymore.

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